Dishonourable company - increased rates on a FIXED contract

I see a few other reviewers who have had the same problem with Dual.

We are a charity which signed up for a 12m fixed rate. As part of sign up, I estimated our usage, though I was guessing as this was a new premises. There was no mention that the deal was dependent on a certain minimum volume.

Part way through the contract, they informed me that we are being moved to a much more expensive low-usage tariff, as we are using less than I said. They assure me that the rate is still competitive, which is a barefaced lie. I looked around and every other company is far cheaper (despite our low volumes of usage).

I phoned to query the legal basis for them to do this and they referred to T&Cs that they introduced several months after our contract started. I pointed out that the contract I agreed with them had no wording about minimum volumes. They confidently asserted that it is the current terms that are relevant. I told them that, legally, they are wrong. They continued to raise other false arguments.

Although I am confident that I could have enforced the 12 month fixed rate, I decided that I don't want to do business with such a dishonourable company, so it wasn't worth the effort of arguing any further. As they were offering penalty-free exit from the contract that they were refusing to honour, I took it. I got a cheaper rate, as well.

You should be ashamed of yourselves, Dual Energy!